New homes are set to be built within a short walk of Redhill and Clementi MRT stations, with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Jan 26 readying a plot in each town for development.

In a proposed amendment to its 2019 masterplan, it rezoned a roughly 1.5ha site in Tanglin Road, next to Crescent Girls’ School, from civic and community institution use to residential use, assigning it a gross plot ratio of 4.2.

The agency also increased the gross plot ratio of a housing plot – about 1.6ha – in Clementi Close from 4.3 to 5. Each of the two plots is equivalent in size to about two football fields.

The Tanglin Road site, URA said, will be used for “high-density residential development with commercial amenities and social and communal facilities”, allowing residents to tap its proximity to Redhill MRT station and recreational offerings along Alexandra Canal.

Agencies will study how the site can be “developed sensitively in relation to surrounding residential developments”, with attention paid to the height of the upcoming housing project.

Apart from abutting Crescent Girls’ School and the canal, the site is near a private residential enclave and the High Commission of Brunei. Future residents will be within a 500m walk of Redhill MRT station.

Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group, said the site could be used for private homes, given its proximity to a good class bungalow area and condominiums.

About 700 to 750 homes could be rolled out on the site, given its size and plot ratio, she added.

Property portal Mogul.sg’s chief research officer Nicholas Mak said between 530 and 580 flats could be built, should the Government want to inject diversity into the area and make public homes in the city fringe more accessible.

Both Ms Sun and Mr Mak noted the site’s proximity to Orchard Road, as well as schools and other amenities that would make upcoming homes attractive to buyers intending to invest in them or to live there.

The Clementi Close plot partially occupies a site vacated under a Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, or Sers, project that was announced in March 2005 as part of a rejuvenation of Clementi Town Centre.

URA said its proposed intensification of the site will help meet housing needs and “allow more people to enjoy the convenience of living close to a well-connected public transport node and amenities”.

Future homes will be within a 350m walk of Clementi MRT station, and will also be next to the new Clementi Polyclinic, which is set to be completed in 2027, as well as Clementi Town Secondary School and Clementi Primary School.

Pointing to the mix of private and public homes in the area, Mr Mak said it is difficult to tell what type of housing the plot would be used for.

Analysts said that with its size and plot ratio, about 920 to 1,000 condominium units could be built on it, or about 650 to 720 flats.

Ms Sun and Mr Mak both said that a Build-To-Order (BTO) project on the site, if launched under the Housing Board’s new classification system of flats from October 2024, could fall under the new Plus category.

Mr Mak noted that the flats would be near an MRT station but outside the central region.

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To be offered alongside the existing Prime flats – those in the choicest locations close to the city centre – and Standard flats, which come with standard subsidies, the new Plus flats are a step down from the Prime ones. Plus flats are in attractive locations within each region across Singapore, such as those near an MRT station or town centre.

Plus flats, like the Prime types, will have a 10-year minimum occupation period, among other restrictions.

Mr Mak added that BTO projects in Clementi are hard to come by – the last was launched in 2017.

The Redhill and Clementi sites are not part of the list of projects for February’s BTO launch, or on the current list of Government Land Sales sites.

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Credit : THE STRAITS TIMES